In the Name of The Future
by RisenDevil52
Summary: Sixth year is over and the war is in full swing, can Harry and crew find the horcruxes and what does the Weasleys' new house guest have to do with defeating the Dark Lord?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Before you begin reading I feel it is only fair to warn you that this story is largely about an original character, while all the characters that you know and love fro them books will make appearances the entire story is narrated from the perspective of MY character. Also for anyone who is particular about it I am not from England and I would imagine that that is reflected in my writing.

**Disclaimer: **The Potterverse is not mine I only wish it and the creativity behind it were.

**Chapter One**

Steam, the room is filled with it and it suits my current mood, its blocking out my surroundings letting me forget if only for a few moments just where I am. I've been living with the Weasleys for nearly two weeks and I'm going out of my mind, Mr. Weasley was a close friend of my father's during their school days, so that's where I am going to be until I turn seventeen. Its not that they haven't been kind, but all Mrs. Weasley talks about, is her son's upcoming wedding, and her husband when he's home spends much of his time badgering me about my life in the muggle world. The only person here even close to my age is their youngest child, and only daughter, Ginny, but she spends all of her time locked in her room moping about her boy problems, and doesn't seem all that interested in talking to me or functioning like a normal human being for that matter. She's defiantly not what I expected when I first arrived, everything that I knew about her told me that she was a bright, happy girl. Not to make her sound perky and helpless, I knew that she could hold her own against all six of her older brothers, and enjoyed quidditch and practical jokes, so it was a little irksome that this girl, who I had expected to get along with so well, was nothing like I'd thought she would be. Its not that I'm completely unsympathetic, I realize that she has a right to be upset, I mean her boyfriend who she is madly in love with broke-up with her at a funeral for Merlin's sake, but she didn't even fight for him, so she has no one to blame but herself, okay maybe him as well, but still.

I wipe the steam from the mirror and stare at the woman before me, not bad really, heart shaped face, olive skin, long wavy black hair and electric purple eyes. I'm short, like five-foot nothing, but that allows me to pull off cute and innocent when I need to avoid trouble, which I'm in more often then is probably prudent, but what's life without a little adventure, eh? The only thing really bad about my height is that occasionally people think that I'm considerably younger than I am, I'll be seventeen in about a week but if people have to guess they often think I'm closer to fourteen. I've found that wizard clothing actually makes this problem worse because it disguises my shape, which if I do say so my self, is actually pretty good; despite being slim, I actually have some decent curves. So I usually end up in muggle clothing, which has occasionally drawn some less than favorable attention for the more backward portions of pureblooded society, which doesn't really bother me because it gives me a chance to tell them how full of shit they are.

I guess that sort of makes me sound like I have a problem with purebloods, which is defiantly not true, my father was from a very old pureblooded family, but I don't hold with the belief that blood matters, or that it is any indicator of power, after all some of the most powerful witches and wizards I've ever encountered were muggleborns. Anyway more to the point things should get more interesting soon as Ginny's brother Ron and his friends are due to arrive this evening. Since school ended they have been staying with Harry's muggle family, and they would be returning here for the wedding.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Ah, Ginny must be awake, guess I should get out of here, I scoop my soiled clothes off the floor, check to make sure my towel isn't going to fall and open the door expecting to see Ginny tapping her foot impatiently, only to find a boy standing there gapping. He's a little older than me and considerably taller, not that that means much, in fact he's tall for his age well over six feet. Figuring that I was decently clad I decided that I might as well introduce myself, so I stuck out my hand and smiled, "Hi I'm Ren Brooks." He continued to stare at me incredulously but, began opening and closing his mouth, not making and noise. I figured I might as well help the poor guy out so, I continued speaking, "So I'm guessing from the red-hair your one of the Weasleys." Instead of responding he quickly stepped around me and slammed the door. Shaking my head I took off toward the room I was staying in, I think it used to belong to the estranged brother, but no one has really said anything about it.

On my way I pass Ginny and a girl with bushy brown hair, must be Hermione, they stop talking as they see me approach, they seem nearly as astonished as the boy in the hallway. Now I'm not really particularly modest, nor by any means could I be called a slut, but it seems to me that a towel covers more than a bathing suit, but you would think that I was wearing nothing based on the looks that these people were giving me. Deciding that I might as well go for broke I decided that I might as well introduce myself to the new girl. "Hi, Ren Brooks," I say offering my hand.

She continued staring for a few seconds before recovering and taking my hand, "Hermione Granger, how do you do?"

"Not bad, trying to get used to England again, I haven't been back here in about six years."

"Oh, did you attend Beauxbatons?"

"No, I went to school in Greece."

"Greece, I wasn't aware of any magical schools there, well other than the rumors about a school full of seers, what is it…Oh, yes, the Order of the Oracle I believe they call it, anyway seer culture is supposed to have died out."

"Perhaps, you should put more stock in gossip then, after all most rumors have some basis in fact, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to go get dressed." I headed down the hall smirking, take that, everything I knew about the girl suggested that she would discredit Divination, oh well, she'll accept it eventually, after all, I've foreseen it. Truth be told, I can't really blame her, I myself find a lot of the different means of seeing ridiculous. Tarot cards, tea leaves and palmistry are all very vague, not many people can accurately interrupt them, I've known quite a few that could, but they all still live within the Order. The few that left were often among the less powerful, hoping to milk their gift for money. Prophecy is little better really, most prophecies can be interoperated in multiple ways and there meanings are decide by the people they are about. I personally put the most faith in visions they aren't easily misunderstood, and they can be put in to a Pensieve, so that others can observe the exact same thing. I'm reasonably certain that I don't believe that only because I happen to have visions, but I guess I'll never know for sure.

Figuring that it must be close to breakfast time I pulled on some jeans and a tank top, put my hair up in a messy bun and headed back toward the stairs. Sure enough a group was gathered the table, I saw Ginny, Hermione, the Red-haired boy and another boy who I assumed was Harry Potter. Two empty chairs remained at the table, the one next to Harry, and the one that Mrs. Weasley always sat in, so I plopped down next to him, all the while ignoring the glare Ginny was sending my way. I turned to him and once again introduced myself.

He smiled and took my hand, "Harry Potter, nice to meet you."

"You too," I nodded my head toward the only person who I had yet to meet, "He talk?"

Harry looked puzzled for a minute before he answered, "Yeah, that's Ron."

I offered Ron my hand, and he shook it, his ears turning bright red, as he mumble what I assumed to be a greeting. Mrs. Weasley came to the table and filled everyone's plates before announcing that she had to run to Diagon Alley, and heading for the fire. We ate in silence for a few minutes; the only sound other than our silverware was Hermione's fidgeting. No way was I going to let her off the hook if she wanted answers to her questions she was going to have to suck it up and ask me herself.

Finally it appeared she could take it no longer, "If the Order of the Oracle still exists why do so few people seem to know about it?"

I put down my fork; now that she'd started I doubted I'd get much more of a chance to eat. "Well think about it, it's dangerous for everyone out there, but how much more dangerous would it be if Voldemort had a seer on his side? If he knew exactly what would happen, exactly how this war will end, he might be able to change the outcome, if it isn't in his favor."

"So you're saying that all of you are hiding because of Voldemort?"

"No, that's just an example, normally when people find out, that you're a seer they start hounding you to make predictions, or do readings for them, and it doesn't really go over well for those who can't."

Ginny cocked her head and seemed to be showing some interest in me for the first time since I'd arrived, "Why can't you? Make predictions, or do readings, I mean isn't that what seers do?"

I grimaced, not exactly happy with where the conversation was headed, "Not all seers do the same things. There are several different types of seer, different levels, classifications…"

"That doesn't make sense, not a single book I've read refers to differences between seers."

I narrowed my eyes, preparing for battle, "Why not, we should we be all alike when you aren't all alike?"

"That's not what I meant; I mean why wouldn't there be a mention of it anywhere?"

I sighed, I wasn't expecting to have to tell them this much until much later, "Strictly speaking, no one outside of the seer culture is supposed to know. I'm kind of an exception, though. Okay, basically there are three main types of seers, Visionaries, Readers, and Mediums. Mediums, are the ones, that give prophecies, they don't naturally remember there prophecies, but they can be taught to do so, if they are powerful enough. Readers, are the ones that can use tarot card, tea leaves, and palmistry, also some of them use crystal balls, but those aren't actually the most useful tool. Finally, the Visionaries are the rarest type of seer, they see a situation play out, like a muggle television, or a Pensieve almost, and are always able to recall what they have seen. You all with me so far?" I watched them as I paused to take a drink.

Most of the group nodded but Hermione used the time to ask a question, "If that's true then how come Professor Trelawney teaches the Reading methods, when we all know that she has given prophecies."

"Mostly because Sybil Trelawney is an idiot. She wanted to remain with the Order to teach but it was decided that she would not be able to adequately instruct the students. Don't get me wrong it is entirely possible that she knows the theory behind the other methods, however unlikely, but she is not able to make predictions that way. From what I've be told she just makes vague guesses and when something is close to true everyone takes it as confirmation of her ability. Unless her ability has advanced beyond were it was when she left she doesn't even remember the few true prophecies that she's made."

Hermione nodded,"That makes sense, especially the part about her being an idiot. So what are the other classifications?"

"Glad you agree. There are two different classifications Alpha and Beta. Ninety-nine-point-five percent of seers fit into the alpha class. They see one outcome, for instance they make a prophecy and that's the end of it, that's what happens, of course prophecy is difficult to interrupt and often gives you little to work with. Beta seers on the other hand see possibilities, around the time a decision needs to be made they see, different outcomes, like the end of two different paths, usually when this happens they have some ability to change the future, to steer things toward a certain outcome. Most often beta seers are Visionaries, don't know why just seems to work out that way, although not all Visionaries are beta class. In a many ways the purpose of the Order is to train beta seers, which as you can imagine creates some tension between the classes, especially when you consider that the beta seers lose their foresight when their purpose is complete."

Harry issued a sound of disbelief, "That seems harsh, don't you think?"

"You'll have to take that up with Fate, beta seers are aware from the first time they See, that it is only temporary, all reports by beta seers who have accomplished their purpose say that they don't miss the sight. I mean, they say fulfilling your purpose as a seer brings a sense of contentment and it allows them to move on to do what the want with their lives. Anyway, one last thing to cover, levels, there are four of them, zero through three. Originally it was only one through three, but about twenty years ago they added zero. Level one seers, See only one thing, the future. Level two seers See, the future and the present, meaning that they See something that is happen else where as it is occurring. Level three seers See the future, the present and bits and pieces of the past. Level zero seers are the only ones not brought to the Order to train, they usually See in dreams or with a tool, but never really see anything significant. So if anyone at Hogwarts actually Sees, rather than making things up in Divination, they belong to this class." I lapses into silence and began eating my now cold breakfast, hoping that none of them would ask the question that I knew was coming, I really didn't want to get into that.

In the end, surprisingly enough, it was Ron who's curiosity got the better of him, "So what are you?"

I continued to stare down at my plate not really wanting to see their faces, as I told them the answer, "I'm a level three, beta class visionary."

It took them several minutes to digest that before they got around to asking more questions. I'm not really sure who asked the next question, it didn't really matter, I had to tell them, they wanted to know the purpose behind my visions, "To see Voldemort destroyed, at all costs."

Harry snorted, not really attractive, but there you have it, "Sorry to disappoint but that's my purpose."

I bit my bottom lip and shook my head, "No, your purpose is to destroy Voldemort, mine is to make sure that you do, to make sure you follow the path that will allow you to succeed. To make sure you don't make more stupid mistakes, and screw it up for the rest of us."

"What makes you think you know anything about me or my life?" Until that moment I wouldn't have believed that his voice could be that cold, and I could understand his anger but seriously, the whole tragically misunderstood thing just wasn't working.

"When I was four years old I had something of an identity crisis, most people get to forget everything that happened before then not me, its to closely tied in with my visions, but that's not really the problem. Having a vision doesn't take nearly as long as the event actually takes, but the experiences are very much the same. I didn't learn to differentiate between my reality and my visions until I was nearly five, but I started having visions when I was six months old, so for almost four years I more or less lived three lives, mine, yours and one other one. I have three memories of what I thought were my first words, three memories of my first steps, truth be told I have three sets of memories of shitty childhoods. I remember a woman screaming begging for her child's life, then a flash of green light. I remember a flying motorcycle, and waking up to find a woman screaming as I lay on a door step. Even after I learned which life was mine I still felt the pain in the others, I lived that horrible night in the cemetery at Little Hangleton, in the Department of Mysteries and on top of the Astronomy tower. I know almost everything about your life, I saw everyone of the moments that shaped you, that connected you to Voldemort, I was so crushed when Pettigrew escaped and you didn't get to go live with Sirius that I had to be sedated, there is only one person who knows your life better than me and that's you." I could feel the tears pouring down my face, I had no idea how to stop them, and really I wasn't sure I wanted to.

Harry looked at me tears trickling down his face; he looked completely lost, "What do you want from me?" The others just sat silently staring at us almost as if the were afraid to say anything.

"I want to help you defeat Voldemort, I want you to have the wonderful life that I have seen for you, but more than any of that, I want to be your friend, I spent my childhood alone, after all who wants to be the friend of the crazy girl right? Wizard kids might have understood, or at least been lenient but the muggles weren't. I understand it really, I wouldn't want to be my friend either, I'll leave you alone, if I See anything that will help I'll let you know." I walked out the door leaving them staring after me, I'd never felt so alone or so exhausted, I'd told them things that I didn't even let myself think about if I could help it, great here I am fucking up the future already, all because I let myself get a little emotional.

I must have fallen asleep because I woke up several hours later to a slight tapping on my door, figuring it was Mrs. Weasley coming to get me for lunch I checked my face to make sure it wasn't to obvious that I'd cried myself to sleep. I pulled open the door, and nearly fell over in shock, Ginny was standing at my door about to knock again and Hermione stood behind her carrying a tray full of junk food. They looked unsure of themselves, and we all stood watching each other for a few moments, before Hermione spoke up, "Can we come in, this thing is getting heavy?"

Unsure of my voice I stepped back to let them in. Hermione set the tray down on the floor and we all sat down around it. The silence continued as we all stared at the tray blankly, until Ginny blurted out a question, "Are you in love with Harry?"

I could hardly keep myself from laughing, in fact a snort escaped as I tried to hold in my laughter, "No, defiantly not. I love him, but I'm not in love with him, I guess that seems odd since I just met him today but, he's always been part of my life, for a long time, he was one of my only friends in a weird way, I don't really know how to explain that."

Hermione nodded, "I think we both understand, neither of us had many friends we were little, I had imaginary friends, and I think Ginny did too."

Ginny nodded, "Actually, _Harry _was one of my imaginary friends so we both understand. Can you tell us who the other person you had visions of is?"

"Not really, not now, you'll know one day."

"Come on, you can tell us."

"Nope, I can't, ask me something else."

"Please? At least tell us if its one of us."

"No, it wasn't, it was a boy, not Ron, and that's all you're getting out of me."

"Alright, is my idiot brother ever going to ask Hermione out?"

"Yep, he will, but it's going to take him awhile yet to get around to it."

"Alright, are we going to win this war?"

"That's kind of a tough one, I've seen three different outcomes, one where we win, one where we lose, and one where we win but lose a lot of good people. Not that we don't lose people in the first one, but the second is a lot worse. I'm going to do everything I can to send things down the right path but it might be difficult."

"Okay, I want to know what school was like for you, since you obviously know all about our school life."

"It was okay, the Headmistress arrived at my house on my eleventh birthday to me explain to my stepfather about the school, and decide to take me with her that day instead of waiting to the start of term, that would have been early July Thirty-First, Harry and I have the same Birthday. So I left Britain that day for Greece and I didn't return until I came here two weeks ago. I didn't really have friends at school either, its not really like Hogwarts, the Alpha seers are a tight knit group and they don't like to let Betas in. Lessons are mostly private, with school wide lecture seminars once a month. Basically, we cover all of the Hogwarts core classes, Defense, Potions, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Charms, Herbology and Astronomy. On top of that we do tons of divination, dueling and advance combat magic, being a seer isn't exactly safe. It didn't help my relations with my peers that I stayed during the summers and did lessons then, so even though I took extra lessons I finished a full year early."

"Why the extra lessons?'

"Fulfill my purpose, I guess, and afterwards I'll need a career."

"Are you sad that you're going to lose your Sight, if everything works out?"

"Maybe a little, but it will be a small price to pay for the death of that evil bastard, besides if things work out the way I hope they will I'll gain a lot more than I lose."

We spent the rest of the afternoon getting to know each other, I told them about myself, and they answered the questions that I had about them. I can't recall ever having enjoyed an afternoon more than I did that one. Of course it couldn't last I needed to settle things with Harry, and that was made plenty obvious at dinner. Mostly dinner that night was a quiet affair, only Mrs. Weasley was speaking and she was once again just chattering about the wedding, no one was really listening to her, Ginny and I had heard it all seven or eight times already, and everyone else just didn't care, they all had bigger fish to fry. I'm sure Bill and Fleur would have cared but they weren't there. After dinner I helped Mrs. Weasley clean up the kitchen mostly because I'm a chicken, and then I ventured out into the garden to find Harry.

I found him sitting on the grass starring out into the pond; I walked up to him and sat down next to him, waiting for him to acknowledge me, it didn't seem right to interrupt his thoughts. When he finally spoke it was in a voice so soft I barely heard it, "You know today was the last day that I ever have to see the Dursleys and in a way I'm a little sad about that. How pathetic is that after all they put me through?"

"Six years ago I felt the same way, I left my childhood home for the last time, my stepfather was a bastard, he made the Dursleys look nice in a lot of ways but he was the only family that I knew, you know. I was so scared about what the future held, even when you can see it coming the future is scary, it made me want to stay with what I knew even if it was bad, at least I was used to dealing with it."

"Is all that true or are you just trying to make me feel better?" There was enough laughter in his voice to tell me that he was just kidding.

"It mostly true, it actually took me two or three days to get to that point but, I spent those first few days at my new home in the hospital wing."

"So what was you step dad like?"

"He wasn't too bad, to me at least, until my mother died, or rather until he killed her, no one ever found her body, they all thought she ran off, and he was an upstanding member of society taking in poor little girl who's mother deserted her, they never even looked for her. I saw him kill her, watched him beat her to death, I didn't even try to help her I was so scared, I hid under the table, with Chester my puppy, my mother had just given him to me of my birthday. My stepfather was used to having a wife to do everything that he demanded; he couldn't remarry so he expected me to take her place."

"What happen to him?"

"I got a letter, about two years ago telling me that he died, they sold the house to pay his debts."

"I'm sorry."

"Not your fault, but if your pathetic for missing the Dursleys, what does that make me?"

"A scared little kid who wanted someone to love them."

"I guess, its okay to be scared, you know? You've got the world resting on your shoulders. I know you plan to keep the others out of it but they have the right to choose."

"And if they die because I couldn't protect them?"

"It's not for you to protect them, Harry, your task is to destroy Voldemort, but do you really think that you can fight your way through his inner circle, and then defeat him. You should let the people that love you help you."

"Does that include you?"

"Yes."

"You know that I'm in love with Ginny, right?"

"Yep, you're not my type anyway. Anyway I owe you an apology; I dumped a lot on you earlier."

"Don't worry about it, you know at first I was really angry about it, that someone else knew almost everything about me, but in a way it like I was never alone, you know, sorta like I had a family that actually cared about me. Just promise me one thing, yeah?"

"Sorry can't promise 'til I know what I'm agreeing to."

"Don't tell anyone else what you know about me."

"I won't, cross my heart hope to die, I tried to limit what I said earlier to things that they already knew."

"Yeah, no problem."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Morning came way to early the next day, and it brought with it a very hyperactive Ginny, she came bounding into my room, trying to encourage me to crawl out of bed in a sing-song voice which should be punishable by death or at least severe maiming. "Rise and Shine, it's a beautiful day, and breakfast is on the table!"

Deciding that I just could not deal with her yet a cast a quick banishing hex and sent her flying out of the room headed of the couch downstairs. As I crawled out of bed I realized that I was still in my clothes from yesterday, oh well, no point in changing until I could shower, I headed for the door hoping to find coffee before I had to deal with Ginny again. I checked my watch as I stumbled down the stairs, just after seven, I'd gotten less then four hours sleep, Harry and I had stayed out by the pond talking until after three. Getting to know Harry was so much different from getting to know the girls; there was a deeper understanding that I didn't have with the girls, like we were tied together by our rotten pasts. Mostly we talked about mundane stuff like school, and he tried to get me to tell him about the other person from my visions until I promised to tell him first when the time came.

I was the last one to arrive downstairs, I poured a cup of coffee and sat down at the table and glanced around at everyone else, Harry seemed to be in just as miserable a state as me, and Ginny fortunately didn't appear to be all that upset about her unexpected flight, Ron seemed a little annoyed with me but I could sort that out later. Everything else seemed fairly normal except that we were all up at seven on a Saturday morning. I soon found out the reason for our unexpected early morning when Mrs. Weasley arrived with the food. "We have an appointment at Madame Malkins today, to get all of you clothes for the wedding, we'll be leaving in an hour."

I did another glance around the table, everyone but Harry and I seemed ready to go, Mrs. Weasley seemed to notice my confusion, and quickly offered an explanation, "I know that you and Harry were up late dear, I thought it would be best to let the others shower first so that you could sleep a little more."

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley," I said standing up and grabbing a piece of toast, "I think I'll go shower I'm not very hungry anyway." I snagged my coffee mug and headed back up the stairs hoping the shower would do a better job of waking me up than the coffee was doing.

Fifteen minutes later, I emerged from the steam filled bathroom once again clad only in a towel and feeling infinitely better. As I headed down the hall I heard a soft chuckling and turned to see Harry leaning against the wall next to the bathroom door. I raised an eyebrow "Can I help you with something?"

"Nope, I'm good, but I don't think Ron can handle running into you dressed like that too often."

"Well, I'm not likely to change my habits just because he wishes for me to do so."

"Suit yourself, I hope you left me some hot water."

"I'd imagine so, its amazing what you can do with magic." We each went our separate ways. I managed to find a suitable outfit for the days outing and headed back downstairs, half way there I ran into a road block in the form of a very put-out Ron.

"Morning Ron, what can I do for you?"

"You can stay away from Harry, for starters."

Well, this was interesting, "I'm afraid that's not going to happen, but might I ask why you feel the need to keep me away from him?"

"He belongs with Ginny, and you have no place trying to get between them."

"Ah, I see, fortunately for everyone involved then my interest in him is strictly platonic."

"You expect me to believe that, when you're obviously some type of scarlet woman?" he scoffed. "Look at the way you dress, and you walk around here in just a towel, you have no sense of modesty at all, it could not be more obvious that you're trying to seduce him."

I don't really get mad very often, but when I do my temper tends to be rather explosive, so I would just like to point exactly how much effort I put into suppressing it in this instance as I have rarely been so insulted in my entire life. I took a deep breath, looked down at my clothes, a teal spaghetti-strap top and a black gypsy skirt with strappy black sandals, not exactly my idea of skanky. "Tell me Ron, how exactly was I attempting to seduce poor, innocent Harry by walking around in a towel yesterday morning, when he wasn't expected to be here until tomorrow evening. Another thing, you are the one who saw me in the towel so how can you be so certain I wasn't trying to seduce you." In hindsight it probably wasn't the best answer to his accusations, especially since he was mad enough to miss the sarcasm in my voice.

His ears looked like they were on fire they were so red, and his voice was starting to rise, "Leave him alone, I mean it."

My voice rose to match his, "And what exactly are you going to do about it if I don't? Hmmm, _Ronald_ tell me that, huh. Neither Harry or Ginny seems to have a problem with my actions, _if_ they do they can be the ones to tell me and I will be happy to help solve the problem."

"You say that you have no interest in him, but you two were out until Merlin knows when, doing who knows what, how do you explain that!"

"We were _talking_ Ron, it's a little like what you and I are doing now, but not as loud and less belligerent. Now, kindly get out of my way!"

He didn't move it was, maybe the only hope he had of avoiding what came next, three different voices rang out at exactly the same time.

"Ronald Weasley!"

"You Prat."

"Ron, you bloody git."

Ron flinched trying to get away from his assailants, no such luck, he was blocked in, Ginny and Hermione were behind him several steps down and Harry stood at the top of the steps. I took advantage of the movement to duck under his arm and head down the stairs, the girls parted to let me through and then started up toward the frozen red-head driving him in Harry's direction. I can't honestly say that I had any desire to witness the chewing out Ron was about to receive so I headed back to the kitchen to see if I could still scrounge up some food. As luck would have it Mrs. Weasley had saved me a plate, so I sat down and dug in.

Shortly after I finished eating a very contrite looking Ron was herded into the kitchen he mumbled and apology, and quickly fled to the living room. The others shot me apologetic looks and headed into the living room to join him, I followed unsure of the reception I would receive; Ron didn't even acknowledge my entry into the room. Despite all of the excitement we still had a few minutes until we had to leave, so he and Harry had decided to start a game of chess. Despite living in the wizarding world I still haven't gotten used to the game, nor have I ever learned how to play.

Hermione notice my interest in the game and came to sit besides me, "Do you play?"

"Nope, never learned," I replied shaking my head.

"Maybe Ron could teach you, he's a really good player."

"Yeah maybe, I always wanted to learn, just never really had the chance."

"Hey, Ron," she paused waiting for him to look up at her, "think you could teach Ren how to play chess sometime, she never learned."

"Never learned chess, next thing you know you'll be saying you can't fly."

I flushed, I been found out already, "No, I can, well sort of, I prefer to keep both feet on the ground. I'm a decent swimmer though."

"You really, can't play chess?" He seemed more than a little suspicious of me.

"Wouldn't even know where to begin."

"Sure, maybe we can work on it a little this afternoon, when we get back."

As he finished speaking the fire turned green, a witch with bubble gum pink hair stumbled out. "Wotcher, guys, about ready to go?"

They all returned her greetings and got up to go, Mrs. Weasley joined us from the kitchen and began giving us instructions for the day, "We are going to Floo directly into the Twins shop, and then exit immediately, without buying any of their nonsense, Alastor Moody and Remus Lupin will meet us in the Alley. Everyone will proceed directly to Madame Malkins, and will remain there upon arriving until the entire group is prepared to leave, at which time we will walk directly back to the twins shop, to Floo back here. Does everyone understand?"

The other four agreed grudgingly, although none of them seemed thrilled about it, I remained silent hoping that she wouldn't notice, she didn't seem to, but the pink-haired witch eyed me suspiciously. She made her way over to me as Mr. Weasley ducked into the fire to wait on the other side. "You a new one then. Name's Tonks"

"Ren Brooks, nice to meet you.

"You're Thomas Brooks daughter, yeah?"

"Mhmm."

"I've heard stories about him, he was a good auror. But I thought he gave some weird name…after a great-grandmother or something."

I sighed, I've been told that my father had many talents but choosing baby names was defiantly not one of them, "He did, its Rendylin really, but if you call me that I will be forced to call you Nymphadora."

"Duly noted, I think it's your turn."

Aside from clothing, there are very few thing that I think the muggles do better than wizards, travel just happens to be one of them. It may take a lot longer but its not nearly so unsettling, and almost never ends with me in a heap on the floor, something that is unfortunately not equally true of wizard transpiration. Ah, well shit happens, I guess, I did a quick check to make sure I was fully intact and that my skirt hadn't flown up and then I climbed unsteadily to my feet. Everyone seemed to be waiting for me, even Tonks had arrived.

"You alright?"

No, I wasn't alright, and I really wanted to knock that smug look off her face but that answer wasn't gonna help me make any friends, "Yeah, I'm good, the Floo and I just don't really get along. Shall we?" I gestured toward the door hoping we could move on without dwelling too long on my un-lady-like arrival. It worked, we all filed out the door joined by several Order of the Phoenix members, and one of the twins, no idea which one though, and we hurried over to the robe shop. Inside the shop seemed to be rather crowded, mostly full of a bunch of chattering blondes, well maybe there were only three of them but that's hardly any better. It was defiantly going to be a long morning. I'd met Fleur once, hadn't really cared for her then, and didn't hold out much hope for the rest of her family, besides nothing like being in a room full of veela to make a girl feel attractive, eh?

I saw a sign in one corner advertising muggle attire and so I headed that way, I noticed Hermione close on my heels and couldn't help but feel sorry for Ginny, stuck with the others because she was a bridesmaid. But I decided to make the best of it, I hadn't gotten new clothes in quite awhile, I always wore the same things to classes so I'd rarely needed other clothing. "So what are you looking for Hermione, just a dress for the wedding?'

She shook her head, "No, I need some new muggle clothing as well. It's been awhile since I had a chance to get any."

"Makes sense, I'm in the same boat, always wore tank tops and athletic pants to classes so that's almost all I have."

We passed the next several hours digging through racks, and trying on clothes, we both ended up with way more than we needed but at least we wouldn't have to try to talk anyone in to letting us go shopping again. Hermione selected a strapless bronze-colored dress with an a-line skirt that came down to her knees, which managed to look fun and elegant at the same time, for the wedding. While I ended up with a full length royal purple spaghetti-strap dress, with a belt made of interlocked gold hoops. But my favorite part of the dress was the skirt, it was had three layers, each one made of eight inch strips of fabric. The top layer was the same color as the rest of the dress, but the two lower layers were out of the same color purple as my eyes, the lighter purple became visible every time I took a step. After paying for our new clothes, we headed back over to the main group, they had Ginny and Fleur's little sister Gabrielle standing in the middle of the cluster wearing very pretty wine colored robes, well they were very pretty on Gabrielle at least, not a good color for Ginny with her red hair. Poor Ginny she looked miserable, but no way were we going to interfere and get dragged into the mess so we joined Ron and Harry who were seated on the floor practically asleep.

We sat down next to them, leaving our sea of shopping bags to surround us, our arrival seemed to perk them up a bit. They filled us in on what we'd missed, apparently there was some disagreement about the color scheme, Fleur had wanted to use a Kelly green, but her mother was insisting that Gabrielle could not wear that color so the had proceeded to try purple, yellow, and blue, until they ended up in the wine colored dresses, which were the first ones that Mrs. Delacour agreed to and unfortunately the first ones that Ginny and Mrs. Weasley didn't agree with. I was about to ask if they had considered beige or something similar, when the vision struck me.

_Fleur and Bill were on the dance floor for the first dance as man and wife, the crowd was gathered around to watch them when a loud bang sounded from the outside, an eerie orange glow lit the tent as the Burrow caught fire. I turned toward the noise to see a large group of Death Eaters, they began firing spells into the crowd, people began falling left and right, I saw Gabrielle fall to the ground, hit by a killing curse, Fleur screamed and began running toward her fallen sister, she never made it there. I saw one of the Weasley boys laying face down in a pool of blood. Harry was fighting his way toward Ginny as she was dragged off by a death eater. Tonks was crying over the body of Remus Lupin, I saw myself throw a reductor curse at a masked Death Eater, as he fell to the ground dead his mask came off, he was barely older than me, if at all and he stared up at me, angelic and peaceful with his blonde hair and silvery grey eyes._

I shook myself to clear my mind of the vision, alright this required action, step one, dresses so we could leave, step two, find a way to stop the vision. At the very least I could accomplish the first, after all the vision had showed me which dress they would all agree on. I jumped up and trotted off to the muggle section again, and located the dress I needed in what I thought were the correct sizes. Both girls were a little bigger than me, a few inches taller and a size or two above me. When I returned to the main area they were still squabbling over the wine colored dresses, I tried in vain for several minutes, to get their attention, until I finally gave up and let out an ear-splitting whistle. They stopped fighting and turned to face me, glaring, as if it was my fault they'd all been acting like children. "Right so I think I've solved your problem."

I held up two slinky black dresses with cap-sleeves and a slit up to the mid-thigh on either side. From the looks on both girls' faces I could see that they agreed, so I turned to Fleur.

"Oui, zat dress is perfect for both girls." Neither mother looked convinced but they didn't seem inclined to start the argument again. They paid for the dresses, and Mrs. Weasley invited the Delacour's for dinner, they agreed and we were all scouted out the door and toward the twins shop. I noticed that Lupin and Moody were sitting on the steps in front of the shop and thought that they were probably the smartest of us all to have avoided the mess all together. In the street we parted company, and said a temporary good-bye to Fleur and her family.

When we arrived back at the Burrow everyone took their things up to their rooms, and promised we'd be down in an hour for lunch. I was half way through putting my new clothes a way when I was nearly wiped out by a flying Ginny. She threw her arms around me hugging me so tight I could barely breathe, "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I was so worried that I'd have to wear that hideous dress!"

"No problem," I rasped, "can you let me go now, I need air."

She laughed, releasing me, "Sorry, I'm just grateful."

"No problem, I didn't come up with it by myself anyway."

"You had a vision about the wedding?"

"Yep, and we really need to convince them to have it somewhere other than the Burrow."

"How come?"

"Let's get Harry, Ron, and Hermione, so I don't have to explain it to many times." After the others joined us in my room I quickly ran down my vision for them, though none of them seemed to sad about the death of the blonde boy, and then we spent the rest of the hour trying to decide what to do but didn't come up with a solution.

After lunch we decided to move our brainstorming session outside hoping that the fresh air would jog our brains. Hermione of course seemed rather set on the answer that she had come up with that morning and was refusing to let it go, "Why don't we just tell them that you're a seer, that way we can tell them exactly what you saw."

"Because, Mrs. Weasley will become more concerned about us and we will never get the freedom that we need to get ready to destroy Voldemort. And the fewer people who know that I'm a seer the better for all of us, it gives us an advantage."

"Where exactly do my parents think that you went to school?" Ron still didn't seem ready to accept me.

"Beats me, they've never asked, I've never offered."

Harry cut in trying to stop another fight, "Okay so what we really need to do is convince them that we've found a better place, one that still doesn't cost money."

"Hogwarts," Ginny interjected.

Hermione shook her head, "No, I doubt that Fleur would want to do that. She didn't go to school there, or anything. She might be more inclined to agree with Beauxbatons but I doubt that Bill would want that."

"So, more or less, we need a location that neither of them have any connection, but somewhere that still has decent wards to make sure everyone is safe. I have an idea, I don't know if it's quite what we are looking for though, I have a house."

They all turned to look at me, Hermione got that look on her face that suggest that she knows something that no one else does, "Your house, as in the Brooks Family Estate, its actually yours?"

I nodded, and she continued to talk, "I think that might be perfect, the estate is said to have the most impressive grounds of any magical estate in Britain, and they wanted an outdoor wedding. We should go check it out."

"Yeah, umm there in lies the problem, I actually can't go see it for another week and neither can any of you."

"Why not, it could be the solution to all of our problems, and you're refusing to go, I don't understand."

"I'm not refusing to go, I just can't, no one can access the estate until I have been there to claim it, which I can't do until I turn seventeen, which doesn't happen for another week."

"So if the Estate isn't ready for the wedding that would only give us fifteen days until the wedding to fix it."

"Well, I know for sure that the ruling applies to witches and wizards but it might not apply to house elves, so I could try to send my house elf to fix it before we get there, but as I understand it the estate is massive it might be to much work for her to do alone, I don't know if there are still other elves living on the estate."

Harry cleared his throat nervously eyeing Hermione, "I could probably get Dobby and Winky to help, I could try to order Kreacher to help but I don't think he would be very useful."

"Nah, don't worry about it, if we get Fleur and Bill to agree, I'll call my elf in the morning, if she can get through, then you can have Dobby and Winky join her to do the cleaning. I know at one time the estate had a staff of six elves so, there a probably still a few living there."

By dinner time we'd worked out exactly what we were going to say to bring up the subject. As it turned out Fleur had heard of my family's home and was thrilled at the idea of having her wedding there, she'd actually seen picture of my gardens as a child and dreamed of having her wedding there. So as it turns out, as of August One, eight Weasleys, five Delacours, one Granger, and a Brooks, would be moving in to what from every description I heard was not so much my house but something more palatial. Mr. Weasley told us about visiting my father's house when they were in school, and according to him they had at least twenty bedrooms that he was aware of, and I was beginning wonder just what I'd gotten myself into.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Right, totally forgot I had a story going, which I guess tells you how much work I've gotten done on it recently, yeah? Oh well, I'm not convinced anyone is actually reading this anyway so whatever. If you haven't figured it out yet, the only character that I own is Ren, I'm just borrowing the rest.**

**Chapter Three**

The following week passed rather slowly, nothing particularly exciting happened, Ron taught me to play chess and began to accept me little by little, I summoned my house elf, Matty and sent her to check on the house. Matty had been with me since Hermione's SPEW campaign began, I tricked the headmistress into freeing her only to discover that she had no desire to be free. Turns out house elves can't be rebound to the same person so I ended up with her, not that she's ever given me reason to be upset about that. Our personalities are a lot alike and she's never backed down from a fight, in fact she's the only being I know that can out stubborn me. During our time together she's taught me about house elf culture, it seems very odd to me but they actually enjoy serving wizards, and believe that we need them to take care of us but in some cases that's actually rather true. Ten minutes after I sent Matty to the Estate she returned with twelve young elves in tow, and promptly informed me that they would be under her direction preparing the Estate for visitors. Truthfully this didn't surprise me because I already knew that house elves determine their ranking by age and Matty was clearly at least twice the age of the next eldest, still Hermione seemed quite affronted. However she managed to remain silent about it long enough for us to learn their names, Tilly, Lexi, Rex, Mic, Bonni, Zoe, Gabe, Yue, Leo, Sky, Zekey, and Lini. Only instants after they finished the list, bowed and popped back out Hermione started her rant. Figuring it was best not to let her build up any steam I cut her off and immediately launched into an explanation of Elf Culture as I knew it, she still didn't seem happy when I finished but she promised not to try to free any of my elves, so what more can you ask for.

Truthfully it came as no surprise that I was thrilled when my birthday rolled around, we finally had a busy day, Mr. Weasley was taking Harry, Ron and I to take our apparition tests, and then we had a trip to Gringotts so Harry and I could gain access to our full inheritances. Poor Ron nearly keeled over when he realized just how much money each of us possessed. I was given the keys to my family estate and Harry was given the option to repair his family home at Godric's Hollow, but opted to wait until after the War, as he couldn't stay there anyway. Unfortunately, midway through discussing Harry's accounts I had another vision.

_A cloaked figure stumbled up the hill toward Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he was moving slowly and erratically, either drunk or injured. As the figure neared the gate it open and Minerva McGonagall strode out to meet him. He fell to his knees pushing back his hood and revealing blonde hair and silvery eyes. The teacher's lips pressed together as she surveyed the young man before her. "Draco Malfoy, you are under arrest you are to be turned over to the Ministry of Magic, and imprisoned in Azkaban until you can be tried before the Wizengamot." The boy attempted to protest but his former professor cast a stunning spell at him and he slumped to the ground._

_Time jumped forward, the same boy, though he appeared years older, stood wasted and dead eyed before the Wizengamot, the chairperson pronounced him guilty and a dementor was lead into perform the kiss. He accepted his fate, to lost in his own worst memories to care about the imminent loss of his soul. As the Dementor leaned down to perform the Kiss, a woman screamed and a cloud of black hair covered her face as she fainted into the arms of the red-haired man standing next to her. _

_Time skipped again, this time in the opposite direction, a woman stood holding a young child in her arms, before a grave, tears streaming down here face, the child looked lost unsure how to responded to the grief surrounding her. A younger Minerva McGonagall approached the grieving pair, and paused next to them staring at the grave. "Thomas was a good man, I owe him my life several times over, if there is ever anything I can do for little Rendylin all you have to do is ask." And with that she walked away._

When the vision ended everyone in the office was staring at me, apparently I'd zoned out longer than usual, in my defense it was actually three visions not one, but still they all seemed rather concerned. I turned to Mr. Weasley hoping to get the answers I needed while everyone was still confused, "McGonagall, Where can I find Minerva McGonagall?"

He stared at me for a moment, unsure what to do before answering, "She should be in the heads office at Hogwarts."

I jumped up, pulling Harry with me, "Harry and I have to go to Hogwarts; we'll meet you later at the Burrow." I apparated us both out, leaving Mr. Weasley and Ron to finish up with the Goblins, we arrived at the edge of the wards still a long way from the main gates. I could almost feel the confusion and curiosity rolling off of Harry, as we began to walk toward the castle, but to his credit he did not say anything. I sighed might as well try to get him on my side now, rather than convince them both at the same time. "Harry, do you remember that first breakfast? The day that you all arrived at the Burrow, I told you all that I had visions of two people, from the time I was a very young child, but I never told any of you who he was?"

"Yeah, that rings a bell."

"Well the other guy, he's in trouble, or at least he will be very soon, so were going to get him out of it, but its probably not going to go over very well, with him or anyone else."

"So, what you're saying, is that we are going to piss off McGonagall, to help some one who is going to be pissed off that we're helping them? Did I miss anything?"

"Yes, I think its going to piss you off as well, I know that it will piss Ron off, and probably other people, I just don't even want to think about the number of people who are going to be pissed about it."

"So, why bother?"

"Because in the end it could make all the difference, because it's the right thing to do, because no one can be a good person if they never get the chance to try."

"Alright, I'm with you, so who are we saving?"

I stopped and turned to face him, terrified that he would change his mind "Its Draco Malfoy."

He looked at me, looked deep into my eyes searching for something, he seemed to find it, "You believe that he will side with us?"

"Yeah, I believe so."

"Then we'll go with that, see what happens."

"Thanks." We finished the rest of the walk in silence; I was amazed at my luck, before our conversation I was certain that he wouldn't accept what I had to say. Having friends was certainly turning in to a strange experience. Once we reached the front door I allowed Harry to take over and lead me toward the headmistress's office.

We stopped in front of a stone gargoyle and froze, "I don't know the password."

I blinked at him several times, "Well shit." We continued to stare at the gargoyle, "Tell me about the Professor."

He looked at me strangely, "I don't really know much about her, she's a Gryffindor, and a cat animagus, she teaches transfiguration, that's all I know."

I started pacing, "Okay, let's think, cats…ummm…lions…kitty litter…catnip…ball of yarn…no…come on…Holy…Hairball!" The gargoyle swung open, we glanced at each other, turned to the now open passageway and rushed up the stairs. When we reached the top, we paused at the door and knocked, a startled voice told us to enter. Harry glanced at the walls as we entered the office looking for Dumbledore's portrait, it wasn't there, according to _Hogwarts: A History_ it wouldn't be there for another two years.

The Headmistress seemed startled to see us, but quickly rose to greet her guests. "Hello, Harry what a surprise to see you here, and who is this?"

I stepped forward and offered her my hand, "Hello Professor, my name is Rendylin Brooks."

She started, "Great Merlin, Thomas' girl?" I nodded, "What can I do for you?"

"You told my mother once, that if I ever needed anything all we had to do was ask, I'm here to collect that favor."

She stared at me and then looked to Harry, "You certainly don't beat around the bush do you?" I shook my head. "I'll see what I can do, what do you need?"

"In about a week, Draco Malfoy will show up at the gates of the school, instead of turning him over to the Ministry, I want you to bring him to me, at my family's estate."

"I can't do that, I won't do that, even if I don't agree with the Ministry I won't break the law by letting a known Death Eater escape."

"There's no proof that he's committed any crimes, and I'm not asking you to let him go, I'm asking you to let me keep him at my house, give me three months, if you still think that he should be in Azkaban then I'll let you take him."

"No, I can't do that."

"You owed my father multiple life debts, this hardly compares to that, and it's the only favor I'll ever ask of you."

"My answer is no."

Harry spoke for the first time since entering the office, "Professor, you know that I've never liked Draco Malfoy, but I was on the Astronomy tower that night with him and Professor Dumbledore, he's not a killer. Dumbledore wanted him to have a second chance."

We watched the conflict as emotions battled for dominance; finally she gave a defeated sigh, "Who else knows about this?"

I took over the conversation again, "Every one who knows is in this room. The Weasley's probably know something is going on but don't know what it is."

"I'll do it, but I have a few conditions."

"Very well, let's hear them."

"One, for as long as you can keep it quiet, no one finds out who I bring to you. Two, I want to inspect the area you plan to keep him in to make sure he won't be able to get away. Three, this is it, no more favors."

"Done," I offered her my hand for a second time, she took my hand after a moments hesitation, and we sealed our deal.

Several hours later Harry and I returned to the Burrow, we agreed to tell the Weasleys that McGonagall would be bringing someone to stay in my house with us but not to tell them who and why. Harry seemed to be accepting the situation well but I made a mental note to try to talk to him about the situation later. The Weasleys accepted the situation with minimal questions, largely because Molly, as she had asked us to call her at dinner that night, refused to allow them to ask any questions, that didn't convince me that Ron, Hermione and Ginny wouldn't begin asking questions the minute that they got us alone. I figured that I would head them off if I could, Harry had done enough for me for one day, well really more like enough for a lifetime but can't win 'em all.

Sure enough the instant dinner was over they shooed us up the stairs into Ron's bedroom, which was the farthest from the kitchen where Molly was doing dishes. I jumped in before they could start, "Okay, I know that you all want to know exactly what our impromptu trip to Hogwarts was about but we can't tell you all of it, so here's what I'll do, I'll tell you everything I can know and when its okay for you to know the rest, I'll answer any questions that you have. That work for all of you?"

They all grumbled but agreed, I guess their curiosity won out. "Right, so this whole thing is really my deal, I needed Harry's help so I had to bring him in on it but I would have avoided it if I could have. Basically I had a series of visions today, the first two were about the guy, other than Harry, that I used to have visions of, they showed him being captured and then later being Kissed by Dementors. Up to this point he hasn't really done anything to deserve this fate, but without help he most likely will, unless he gets his soul sucked out of course. Hopefully I'll be able to help him turn his life around before that happens, because he has tremendous potential for good, he's just never had the chance to tap into that potential."

Ginny scowled, "What exactly is this guy doing that gets him caught?"

"Surrendering to McGonagall, unfortunately in the vision she never bothered to find out what he was doing before she stunned him."

Ron snorted, "I don't really get why we want to help this guy."

"Because with out his help, two people in this room will die."

Ron turned red, a really spectacular shaded of it, "Okay good reason, Harry do you think, that he can be convinced to help us."

Harry bit his lip, and turned his eyes away from me, "I have faith in Ren, but I'm not entirely certain this will work."

Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her spot on the floor, "Professor McGonagall just agreed to this? I mean that's a little odd, don't you think?"

Now it was my turn to be uncomfortable. "She…ummm…she didn't just agree there might have been some extortion involve."

Harry broke in, "I won't say it was so much extortion, as a massive guilt trip."

"Fine, I guilted her into it, with a bit of help from Harry. And its on something of a trial basis, I have three months to convince her that he's a changed man or she gets to pack him off to prison."

We were silent for several seconds until Ginny whispered, "You want to make a former Death Eater do a one-eighty in only three months."

"It's not really a complete one-eighty, he just needs to know its okay to be true to himself, that's frowned upon where he comes from. Look, he's a good guy, he doesn't need to change, he just needs to realize it for himself."

"What do you lose of she sends him to Azkaban?'

"Three months of trying to help him."

Harry grunted indignantly, "And an open ended favor from McGonagall."

I sent an evil glare his way, "Don't be ridiculous, I've already lost that, and I wouldn't have given it up, if I thought the effort was wasted."

"I'm not so certain that you know him as well as you think you do."

"I know him as well as I know you, and I know that in a lot of ways your life has been a picnic compared to his, and I'll thank you to consider that, you don't know him."

"But unlike you I've actually come face to face with him."

"Whoppty-freakin-doo. Harry I know that you believe people should be given a chance after all, does one successful dark spell make a wizard dark?" Okay it was a low blow and I knew it, but I couldn't help but feel a bit of satisfaction as I stormed out of the room. I mean, who exactly did he think he was, I knew more about Draco then he did, I understood why Draco behaved the way he did but did Harry care oh no, all he trusted was what _he_ could see, not what I could see. Uh-oh moment of self realization, yuck, so I am a major self-absorbed bitch, I think I have some apologies to make. In answer to my thoughts there was a soft tap on my door, "Come in."

Harry stooped in the doorway uncertainly, "That was a little harsh, don't you think?"

I ducked my head too ashamed to look at him, "Yeah, it was I had no right to say that, I'm sorry. And I'm sorry for blowing this out of proportion; I understand why you don't trust him, why you're hesitant to give him a chance."

"That's okay, but I don't really understand why you believe so strongly in him."

"Harry, sometimes I forget just how much knowing the future, even a possible one changes things but I have to trust him, because I can't even begin to contemplate the consequences of not begin able to trust him."

"What's that mean exactly?"

"I can't tell you that now, it could change everything."

He laughed, "you're not very good at the whole keeping the future to yourself thing are you?'

"I've never had to be, I never had anyone to tell before, and that never really bothered me but in the last week getting to know you guys seems to be changing all that. Its like I have the chance to be me for the first time, because for the first time there are people who care who I am. Does that make any sense?"

"You're saying it's the same for him, huh? He never could be the person that he wanted to be, because no one cared?"

"Not quite, his parents cared that he be like them, his life hasn't been easy, Harry, his parents hurt him more than the Dursleys ever hurt you, maybe more than my step dad hurt me. I have to give him a chance because I need to believe that he can be the person he's buried for so many years."

"Alright, I'll do what I can to accept that."

"That's all that I can ask for."

"There's more to this than you're saying. I want to know the truth."

So I told him everything, well, maybe not quite everything.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:**I do not own Harry Potter.

**Chapter Four**

Things remained tense between Harry and I the next morning, which of course extended into the rest of the group, fortunately we were all so busy preparing to leave that we didn't have much time to let it bother us. The plan was to have the Delacours join us at the Burrow at about ten, and then to portkey, slightly illegally, to my house. Of course despite having more than a week's notice, and the fact that we'd spent the entire week doing nothing, none of us were ready to leave, and the morning was a full of frantic activity. Midway through the morning it occurred to Hermione that all of the Weasleys' possessions would be destroyed in the fire and that we couldn't have them empty their home unless we told them about the vision. This of course set of a temporary panic as Ron and Ginny tried to figure out a way to save their possessions, in the end Harry suggested sending house elves to collect everything after we all left, so they agreed to pack only what they needed, for the three week visit that their parents were expecting to be taking. Only half-and-hour behind schedule we all gathered in the front yard with our trunks to leave, I pulled the rope I'd enchanted from my bag, and unwound it allowing everyone to grab hold, I did a short count down and we were off.

To say that I don't travel well by Floo is one thing, but to say that I don't travel well by portkey would perhaps be the biggest understatement of, well, ever. As soon as my feet hit the ground I stumbled did two complete somersaults and crashed into a tree. Almost everyone else had at least managed to remain upright, the only person in half as bad a state as me was Harry, who had fallen on his backside and looked decidedly green. I had planned to spent the morning unpacking and settling in but I was beginning to think that moving was a bad idea, the twins didn't seem to agree because they came over and pulled me to my feet. Everyone gathered their things and we headed toward the house, and I finally got a good look at my family's home for the first time. It was a truly awe inspiring sight, my parents chose not to live there after their marriage so that my mother could more easily remain connected to her muggle family, and friends, so I had never actually been to the house even as an infant. We ascended the front steps, to find Matty waiting with the door opened for us. She directed each of the others to the elf assigned to lead them to their rooms, and then she gestured for me to follow her.

"This way, Miss Ren, I is leading you to the master suite." She lead me up to the massive flight of marble stairs to the second floor, to and into a bedroom filled with the most beautiful cherry wood furniture I'd ever seen and decorated in creams in gold, perfect. I realized that Matty was talking and force myself to pay attention. "Would you like me to put your things away so that you can see the rest of the house?"

"That would be great thanks, Matty."

"Just remember lunch at noon, in the main dining room."

I nodded and headed toward one of the two doors on the opposite wall of the room, it lead to a small bed room, most likely originally intended as a nursery but now it was furnish for an adult, complete with a desk and a full book shelf, I love Matty I really do, she never fails to anticipate all of my needs. This room would be perfect for Draco, and I'd be able to set wards around the suite of rooms rather than else where in the house, it was less likely to be noticed there, or tampered with. I turned back to the main room to find Matty, gone it was really incredible how quickly those elves could work. The other door led to a bathroom, complete with whirl pool tub, and a huge walk-in closet. I left my room and headed out to explore my new home.

Later that afternoon found me sprawled out on my bed reviewing my notes on the wards that I needed to erect, they seemed simple enough but I'd never tried them out before, and I wasn't certain that McGonagall's inspection would be particularly easy to pass. The notes checked out perfectly, I'd been over them four times now, I really wanted to have someone else look them over but that was put of the question, the only people in the house capable of understanding them weren't like to help me without a full explanation, except maybe Hermione but then she would know how to break them and I couldn't take that risk. Time to resign myself to the inevitable, might as well just set them and hope for the best, if there was a flaw hopefully McGonagall could find it before she brought Draco, after all it wouldn't do anyone any good if he escaped.

I took a deep breath and cast the spell, there was a momentary surge of magic and then everything returned to normal, I did several quick spells to test them and found the wards to be up to my standards, so I decided to find somebody to hangout with for awhile. I was hoping to find Harry and crew but instead I found George, it was strange really to see one twin without the other but he looked like he could use someone to talk to so I took the chair across from him. "Why so down?"

He narrowed his eyes, sizing me up, "Why should I tell you?"

"Because I'm here and I'm willing to listen, but your call."

"I had a fight with Fred."

"Okay, what about?"

"Look, I'm no sure I want to talk about this."

"'Kay, let's talk about something else. How are things going at the shop?"

"Alright, I'll tell you, Fred wants me to go on a double date tonight, I don't want to go."

"Any particular reason you don't want to go?"

"Yeah, I'm …uh…I'm…umm," he let his voice trail off.

"Okay, you obviously have a reason, so why not just tell Fred?"

"Its not something I've ever told anyone before, and its kinda big."

"If there's anything I can do to help, just let me know."

"Ren, I'm gay."

"So just tell your brother, he's not going to care, he loves you."

"I know, but it has to change things right? I mean he's gonna want to know why I never told him before, I never kept anything from Fred before."

"Well, why didn't you tell him?"

He shrugged, "I don't know, I guess I wasn't ready."

"There you go, he'll get it. Just be honest with him."

"I'm not ready to tell him yet, I mean, I what to tell him but not yet. Would you do me a favor?"

"Uh, what exactly did you have in mind?"

"Let me tell Fred that we're an item, and then he'll understand why I don't want to go on the double date."

"I don't know, George that could turn into a pretty big mess. Maybe you should find a different excuse…"

"You said if I needed help all I had to do was ask."

"You know its not fair using that line; I just used it the other day. Fine, but I will not forgo my right to say I told you so when this blows up in our face. What exactly is this going to entail?"

"I guess mostly just hanging out together when I'm here; holding hands, and being my date for the wedding, besides that all the others will be all coupled up there anyway."

"I guess that won't be too bad, I just hope you're a good dancer, because if I'm doing this we aren't sitting out a single song."

"It's a date then."

I leaned over and gave George a kiss on the check at the exact moment the door flew open to reveal Fred, Harry and Ron. "Hello, brother mine, we're about to go play a game of quidditch, care to join us?" Fred asked glancing slyly between the two of us.

George glanced back at me, "You mind?"

"Not at all, have fun, I'll see you at dinner." They left, Harry giving me a questioning look as they took off, well looks like the whole house would know about my 'relationship' with George. If I wasn't feeling guilty about the McGonagall thing I wouldn't have agreed, would I? So much had changed so quickly, I wasn't sure which way was up anymore, things were rapidly becoming more confusing than I could handle. I retreated back upstairs, I needed time to think, and I definitely wouldn't get it once everyone heard 'my news'.

I must have dosed off, when I woke to find Matty leaning over me shaking me gently, "Miss Ren, you is needing to wake up, you is having a visitor."

I sat up to find Professor McGonagall standing in the doorway, jumped up and straighten my clothes, "Hello Professor, is there anything, I can do to help you?"

"I'll need the schematics to the wards that you've used so I know which diagnostics to run, if you'll just get the text for me."

Although I did not believe that the Professor was a particularly motherly person her clipped tone stung a little, if we'd met under different circumstances I imagine that we would have gotten along. I shifted nervously, and picked up the journal that I kept my notes in and opened to the first relevant page, and held it out to her.

She pulled it from my hand and began reading, "These are hand written notes, not a text I want the author's version, one that doesn't have as much risk for error."

Great this wasn't going to be pretty, "Those are _the _original notes, Professor, I received a spellcrafters license, just over a year ago, I wrote the wards myself."

She pressed her lips together until they nearly disappeared, "You are not old enough to have such a license, so these wards are not acceptable."

"No disrespect ma'am, but there is no age requirement to receive the license, I designed these wards specifically for this purpose, the only people who can get through them are the one who know that Draco Malfoy is in here, he can't get out, and only myself and Matty, the head of my elf staff can lower the wards. Every conceivable test that I can do on these wards tells me that they are flawless. You wished to test my wards; you never specified that they be already known to you." I took a deep breath to steady myself, "You're here, please just test them, if you find any problems then I will use some other form of wards, from a text written by someone who is older and wiser and all that."

She didn't responded just went back to looking at my notes, I remained silent waiting to see what she would say. She closed the book and began testing my work, it took her about twenty minutes to complete her examination, when she finished she turned and stared at me for several minutes. "You know when you first walked into my office and began making demands of me, my first thought was how disappointed your father would be, using such underhanded means to help a known Death Eater. Then I arrive here to have you demand to use your own wards, I thought that confirmed my original opinion of you, that they would be terrible and you had more ego than was good for you, but your work is the finest I've ever seen, so it makes me wonder what else I had wrong about you. On my way up here I heard that you and George Weasley are now something of an item, and however much chaos he created at school, he's a good person. Not to mention that Mr. Potter seems to trust you and I know him to be an exceptional person so I'm willing to give you a chance provided you don't attempt to blackmail me again."

"I'd really like that Professor, I'm sorry about that but I couldn't think of a better way to convince you, I wish I could tell you more about this, I know its all very strange, someday I'll explain it to you I promise."

"You know, I seem to remember getting a notice about six years ago, that a Miss Rendylin Brooks would not be attending Hogwarts because she was attending a rather exclusive magical school in Greece. So I'll just assume it has something to do with that, and I imagine that everything will be clear in the end. Have a good night, Miss Brooks." I smiled maybe things would work themselves out between myself and the professor, with a spring in my step I headed downstairs for dinner.

Dinner that night was probably the worst one yet, the entire family spent the meal flinging questions at George and I about our 'relationship', fortunately George was a rather experienced liar and managed to bluff them. As soon as the meal was over I dragged him out of the kitchen to talk in private, and we managed to fill in the remaining gaps, now I had two sets of lies to keep track of my own and the ones about my new boyfriend. Added to that mess I was starting to feel guilty about knowing George's big secret and not being honest with him so I decided that I had to tell him the truth, "George, I haven't been completely honest with you, I want to tell you the truth but only if you're sure you want to hear it."

"What's up? Is something wrong?"

"No nothing like that, its just that there a lot you don't know about me, and I want to be truthful with you, but I need you to keep it yourself, and if you don't want to keep it a secret say so now and this will be the end of it."

He pulled me into a hug, "Hey, who keeps a secret better than me, huh? I've managed to keep my secret from my twin, and your secret can't be any bigger than mine right?"

"Yeah, it's a bit bigger." And I was off, telling George Weasley, one half of the terrible twosome all of my secrets, yet I've never felt better than I did right after I finished telling someone else the entire truth, unfortunately it had me in tears again. This mess was getting ridiculous I hadn't cried since the day I left my stepfather's and yet this was the second time in less than two weeks that tears had escaped. It was strange crying against George's shoulder and yet oddly comforting, of all the people that I'd gotten to know since arriving at the Weasley's I knew in that moment that I would trust George above them all, even the connection that I shared with Harry could not compare. That night was the first night in years that I fell asleep without the aid of potions, I only vaguely remembered George carrying me up to my room and tucking me into bed, before laying down next to me and pulling me into another hug.

I woke up the next morning feeling completely refreshed; I went to stretch my arms only to find that they were pinned to my sides. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why until I felt warm breath on the back of my neck. I looked over my shoulder to find George lying next to me, I smiled good to know I hadn't scared him off, I rolled over and shook him gently, "Hey, time to wake up. We need to get downstairs before anyone comes looking for us."

"Little too late for that."

I nearly jumped out of my skin, "Damn it Harry! Don't do that to me!"

"Its time for breakfast, you might want to hurry," and with that he ducked back out of the room.

"Damn, can't we just go back to sleep?"

"Nope, if you're mum tries to come up here she'll realize that she can't get in, I doubt that will go over well, and I don't fancy having to tell her to knock off just because its my house, I don't know if that would work anyway." We crawled out of bed and I headed into the bathroom to change quickly before heading downstairs. Calling back over my shoulder as I went, "Well if nothing else this will help our story."

I arrived back in my bedroom to see George wearing some of the clothes left in the other room for Draco. "You know if your going to make a habit of this then you'll have to leave some of your clothes up here, as I doubt that Draco will be to happy about sharing once he arrives."

"Yeah, probably, how much does Harry know exactly?"

"Less than you, more than the others, I needed his help."

"When will you tell them the truth?"

"I guess when he's ready, if he's ever ready if not then I'll tell them when it becomes necessary."

"I think you're right about him, for what its worth," he said steering me out the door.

"Thanks, its good to know someone things I'm not nuts."

"Ha, I do think you're nuts, but in this case you happen to be right." With that he stole my hair clip and took off down the stairs.

I stumbled, as hair fell before my eyes, then took of after him, "George! Give that back!" I caught up with him, unfortunately he'd come to a dead stop in the dinning room entrance and I crashed into him sending us both to the floor.

He rolled over laughing, "You didn't tell me that you would be arriving by portkey."

I jumped on him and grabbed my clip, "You'll pay for that, just you wait."

He climbed to his feet and then helped me up; we sat down at the table to find the entire gathered group staring at us, unsure how to react. I smiled as I put my hair back up, "Morning everyone, breakfast looks lovely."

I dug in, George not far behind me, leaving the others to do the same when they got over their initial shock. Most of breakfast passed peacefully, everyone chatting idly about their plans for the weekend, hazard of a Friday I suppose, no one wants to face one more day of real life before they get a break. The only interruptions were the arrivals of two owls, one carrying Hermione's daily prophet article and the other carrying an unmarked letter addressed for me, I tucked it away and sent the owl off hoping that no one was paying attention, unfortunately Fred did.

"So what you get then."

"Just a letter from a friend I expect, I'll open it later."

"You should open it now, might be important."

"The only people who could possibly have urgent news for me are in this room, it'll keep."

"Ah, come on tell us what you got."

I was about to start shouting at him when George saved me the trouble, "Let it go Fred." If things had been awkward when George and I arrived for breakfast it was nothing to what they were now, apparently seeing the twins disagree was new to everyone.

Fred looked shocked, "Come on, your siding with her? What's the big deal, its just a little joke."

"She doesn't want to open the letter now, why don't you just let it go?"

Fred didn't respond for a second, then he whipped out his wand. "Accio letter."

He started opening it before anyone knew what was happening, I jumped to my feet and shouted the first spell that came to mind, "Oppungo."

Suddenly a swarm of birds was attacking Fred, I summoned the letter quickly and ran from the room, George and Harry hot on my heels. I opened my bedroom door and stood waiting for them to enter; as soon as they were in I slammed the door with all the might that my tiny frame could muster, throwing some magic into it for good measure. I put my hands over my face and screamed and then pulled the note out of the envelope and read it. The whole correspondence was only two words long, but its meaning was perfectly clear, 'Tonight Midnight'.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hi, its been awhile, largely because I forgot I was working on a story until I got a remind in the form of a review, anyway I'll try not to let it go so long again if I can help it but I do have stuff to take care of occasionally and all so yeah.**

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine. (small sob)**

**Chapter Five**

I still don't know how I made it through that day; my nerves increased exponentially with every minute it drew closer to midnight. The entire house was riddled with tension; even though most of them couldn't possibly know what was to happen as the clock struck twelve. I'd spent most of the day locked in my room arguing with Harry and George; both were insisting on being with me when Draco arrived, and neither would listen when I said that their presence would draw unneeded attention from the rest of the family. After much deliberation they agreed that it was only necessary for one of them to be there, which of course lead to an argument over who it should be. In the end I threw my weight behind George, as his being in my room late at night would arouse the fewest suspicions, although it did run the risk of infuriating Molly. With that settled Harry left in a huff to find Ron and Hermione, and I set about working myself into a panic.

Dinner that night was nearly unbearable. Fred still refused to speak to George and spent most of the meal glaring draggers at me when he thought no one else was looking. Harry wasn't speaking to George or me and I spent most of the meal chasing food around my plate with a fork. Together the four of us were sending out enough awkward, hostile vibes to silence the rest of the group which meant for once we didn't have to listen to Mrs. Weasley prattle on about the wedding. Things progressed in pretty much the same fashion until midway through dessert.

Bill was the first one to notice anything wrong, he glanced over at Fleur and his mouth dropped open in shock and he tried to speak, no sound came out. One by one the others began to notice, Bill's attempts to speak were becoming more and more pronounced until finally he gave up and pulled a lock of Fleur's hair out from behind her ear bringing out to where she could see the now hot pink locks. That's when the shrieking started; she was soon joined by her brother as he realized he was now covered in feathers, and Gabrielle who had horns sprouting out of her head. The Weasley's stared at them in horror until Fred began to snicker; his laughter was nearly out of control before he managed to speak.

"Maroon really is your color, Ron."

The youngest Weasley boy looked down at his hands and groaned, "I hate maroon."

By the time everything was said and done everyone Bill's age and younger had been effected by the prank, with the exception of Ginny, which meant of course that she took the blame for it. She was sentence to chores, for the entirety of the next morning mostly because the Delacours have no sense of humor, it was all going to wear of by morning I don't see what the big deal was. I felt bad, after all the whole thing was my idea and George had helped me but we needed someone else to take the fall and she'd been the easiest to set-up; I made a mental note to help her if I could and then checked to make sure that the one 'prank' that I needed to work had done so, sure enough Harry was sleeping with his head on the table. I'd figured that Harry wasn't likely to stay away if he could help it so I decided to take the decision out of his hands, sometimes I amaze even myself.

At ten minutes to midnight, I threw Harry's invisibility cloak, which I had relived him of after he 'fell' asleep, over my shoulders and George led the way out of the room. Even though everything had been quite for a couple hours we didn't want to take any chances, we figured this was if we ran into anyone George could tell them that he couldn't sleep and decided to take a walk, and there would be someone visible to open and close doors as needed. As it turned out the ruse wasn't necessary, luck was on our side and we made it outside without anyone crossing our path. I checked my watch not quite midnight yet; we stood in silence and waited for their arrival.

It wasn't long before two shadowy figures made their way out of the darkness; one seemed to be struggling to remain up right. I slipped the cloak off and handed it to George, then watched as the clouds slide back and the moon lit up Draco's face. It was a powerful experience, seeing him for the first time in person, my heart wrenched at the haunted half-dead look on his face. He'd had such a terrible life, in so many ways one not that different from my own and unlike Harry neither of us had made friends to help us coop when we arrived at school, though I maintain that it wasn't for lack of trying. The isolation at school was probably the worst because you could see all of the others, the people with someone to care about them around you. Shaking my head I forced my thoughts back to the task at hand. No one spoke; I nodded to the professor offering my silent thanks before moving forward and pulling Draco's arm around my shoulder. He must have been exhausted because he didn't even try to resist, in fact he leaned on me, almost more heavily than I could support. George threw the cloak over the pair of us and we turned back toward the house.

The trip back upstairs took more than twice as long as the journey outside, and I was forced to cast a silencing spell on Draco's boots to keep them from making noise. I could feel the heat rolling off of him as we moved slowly through the house, despite the fact that he was trembling. After what seemed like hours we arrived in my room and I was able to pull the cloak off; George looked at me, asking with his eyes what we should do next, wracked with uncertainty.

"Go to the kitchen and ask Matty to show you were the potions are, we'll need any healing potions that you can find."

He left without saying a word, and I lead Draco into the bathroom sitting him down on the closed toilet. I reached into the shower and turned on the water before turning back to him to pull of his boots and socks and then using a cutting hex to remove the outer layers of his clothing, they were to filthy to clean, even magic can only do so much. He didn't react at all staring blankly at the floor. I coaxed him back on to his feet and then pushed him into the shower, still clad in his boxers; he didn't react as the water hit him, I couldn't help but notice how thin he'd become, almost like a skeleton. Deciding that there was little choice, he needed to be clean I stepped in after him, picking up the soap and washing him as carefully as possible. It took ages to get all of the dirt off, and he still wasn't reacting as I turned the water off, saying a quick spell to dry us, I pushed him back out and he sat down on the toilet once more, his first independent action. Opening the door I summoned clothes for him, dressing him as though he were a wizard size doll. Leading him out of the bathroom we discover George waiting for us, holding a box of potions, Matty by his side.

"I brought everything I could find," his voice was barely above a whisper.

"Please, miss Ren, Matty is wanting to know if she can be helping?"

I shook my head, "Not now but when he wakes up, I'll need you to bring up some soup and tea."

"Yes, miss Ren, Matty will do that." With a snap of her fingers she was gone.

"Come on let's get him into bed, so we can figure out what's wrong with him," George helped me steer Draco into the little bedroom and waited while I tucked him in, without saying a word. I quickly ran some diagnostic spells and determined that aside from a fever, some serious bruising, a major case of dehydration and boarding on starvation, Draco was fine. Which is a said statement, but he was better of then I'd expected, he took the potions that I held to his lips without question and soon he was in a potion included sleep. George and I left the room in silence, leaving the door open a crack behind us.

I cried again that night, while George held me, I'd never been so scared in my entire life, I knew what I was supposed to do but I wasn't sure that I would be able to do it. Fortunately George seemed to understand and he let me cry myself to sleep without saying anything. I woke up early the next morning, in my bed, and assumed George had carried me there again. His support meant more to me than I could say, and I couldn't help but smile as I slid out of the bed carefully so as not to wake him, after all it was largely my fault he was fighting with his twin and couldn't sleep in his own room. I tip toed around gathering my things before heading to shower, when I was finished I went directly into the other room to check on Draco, barely noticing that Matty had returned in the night to clean the bathroom.

Draco was sleeping peacefully when I stepped into his room, but that wasn't surprising given the amount of dreamless sleep potion I'd given him, still I wasn't the only one that relied on it more than was strictly healthy, and if he'd built up a tolerance like I had then it was likely that he would wake soon. I reran the diagnostic spells and was happy to discover that he was healing very well; he'd need rest and nourishment but everything else seemed to be clearing up, his fever was completely gone. I signaled for Matty and told her to bring up the food I'd requested the night before, and then sat down to wait for him to awaken.

As I'd predicted it didn't take long for Draco to begin blinking the sleep from his eyes, and trying to sit up, I moved forward to help him but his disdainful glance stopped me. We sat in silence until Matty arrived and handed me the tray, before disappearing to the kitchen again.

"Do you want to eat something?"

"Yes," his voice was hoarse. I set the tray in front of him, but after several attempts it became clear that he would not be able to feed himself. I conjured an extra pillow and put it behind his back before sitting on the edge of his bed and beginning to feed him. We let the silence take over until he'd finished and then I removed the tray before we spoke again.

"Is there anything that I can get you?"

"No," he looked like he wanted to say more but stopped himself.

"What do you need?-feel free to speak up."

"Who are you? I figure that I should be in Azkaban, but unless I'm mistake I'm not."

I sighed I should have seen this coming, "No, this definitely isn't Azkaban, this is my house, and you will be staying here for awhile, until we decide what to do with you."

He looked resigned, "So I'll be going to Azkaban soon, then?"

"I'm not sure, for now you're here and I intend to let you stay here and to do my best to get you healthy again. You look tired perhaps you should sleep some more?" He didn't argue as I helped him lay back down and he was nearly asleep by the time I reached the door.

I could barely hear him when he spoke, "You didn't tell me your name."

"Ren Brooks, it's a pleasure to meet you Draco Malfoy." He murmured something and then drifted off to sleep again. I found George getting dressed for breakfast and waited for him to finish before speaking to him; he obviously hadn't heard me enter as he nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of my voice. "You should talk to Fred today."

He scowled, "You know that I'm not ready to tell him the truth yet."

"I know but can you really tell me that you're happy with the way things stand?" I walked out of the room without letting him respond.

A very well rested Harry Potter was waiting at the table when I arrived. He glanced around to make sure no one else was in the room before speaking in a hiss. "Very funny, what were you thinking putting me out like that?"

Deciding that honesty would not be a good policy in this case, I was left with little choice but to lie through my teeth, "I don't know what you're talking about, I believe Ginny was responsible for the pranks at dinner last night, perhaps she felt you looked tired."

His annoyance seemed to be growing by the second, "You and I both know she wasn't behind it! You drugged me so I wouldn't follow you!"

"Guilty conscience there, Harry?"

He looked ready to retaliate but at that moment others began to enter the room; instead of continuing the fight he stared grumpily at the table. The twins were the last to arrive and they enter together with smiles on their faces, everyone seemed to relax as they realized that the pair was back to normal. If you watched them closely you could pick up on a little bit of unresolved tension, but otherwise things seemed okay. The meal was considerably more pleasant that the one the previous evening, only Harry seemed to be upset, although I have to say I found it a little odd that Ginny wasn't upset.

After breakfast Harry once again followed me to my room, this time waiting in the main room while I checked on Draco. After a brief argument he settled down and left to research horcruxes with Ron and Hermione. I retrieved my notebook and went in to Draco's room to keep an eye on him while I worked on a new spell. He didn't wake again until after lunch, at which point I had Matty bring up more soup for him.

He didn't speak until he'd finished eating, "Why are you taking care of me?"

"Does it matter?"

"I don't want charity."

"No, I don't expect you would." He stared at me waiting for me to continue. "Let's just say it because it's the right thing to do."

"That's not really the reason."

"No, and maybe some day I'll tell you, but today is defiantly not that day."

The wedding was fast approaching and it was taking up more and more of everyone's time. The only people who did not get roped in to helping were myself, because I faked a stomach virus and Draco because no one knew he was in the house. Life settled into a routine, George went back to sleeping in his own room, Matty brought meals three times a day for me and Draco and we spent the time getting to know one another. I managed to work on several spells but was not having as much luck as I would have liked, and Draco got lots of sleep. The time flew by and before I knew it, it was the night of the wedding and I was preparing to attend the ceremony. By that time Draco was up and moving around and I think a little annoyed that he would be spending the evening alone; despite what Harry said about him I was enjoying his company immensely; except when Harry stopped by because then he seemed to become a completely different person, one I can't say that I cared for very much.

An hour before the wedding was due to start found me standing before the mirror desperately trying to force my hair into _some_ type of up-do, nearly ready to scream as it all came tumbling down again. I heard laughter from the other side of the room and whirled around to see who I needed to kill.

Draco was leaning against one of my bed post not even attempting to hide his amusement at my expense, "Having fun?"

"I'll show you fun," I growled ready to attack him.

"I don't really know why you're trying to put it up; you'll look almost hot with it down."

I tried to force myself to remain calm, but I couldn't stop the flush that was creeping up my cheeks. I was overcome with a strange mixture of anger and excitement, still torn on whether his statement counted as a complement or not. I decided to go with the safest route and just pretend that I hadn't heard him; Draco however seemed to be unwilling to let it go.

"You must be excited, first time you'll get to see your boyfriend in a week; it's interesting that Potter spends more time in here than he does."

Okay, I couldn't very well let that go, George may not have really been my boyfriend but he didn't deserve to be insulted. "He's been busy with work, not to mention getting ready for his brother's wedding, and I'll thank you to keep your mouth shut about things that don't concern you!"

"Touched a nerve, have I?"

"You know, you definitely haven't made it difficult for me to understand why they don't like you." I felt awful the instant the words crossed my lips and the look on his face made me feel like the slimiest thing on the face of the earth.

"Well then, I won't waste anymore of your time, after all why would you want to hang out with me." He returned to his room slamming the door behind him. Sighing I went back to getting ready, leaving my hair down as he'd suggested. I must say that he was right, by the time I'd pulled on my purple dress I did look hot, which defiantly did not go with my attitude, so after checking the time, fifteen minutes until I was needed downstairs, I knocked on his door. Not surprisingly he didn't answer, can't say that I blamed him. So I pushed open the door and entered.

He was standing with his back to me staring out the window. "What? I am I not allowed any privacy on top of not being allowed any freedom?"

"Look, I'll leave you alone, but I'd really like to apologize first. I had no right to speak to you that way."

The bitterness in his voice was heartbreaking, "Yes, you did, its all true isn't it."

"No, it isn't, the person that I've spent the past week with isn't anything like that. You've never treated me poorly and when you pointed out something that was true, I over reacted and that wasn't right."

"Fine, apology accepted or whatever."

"If you can't forgive me, just say so, and I'll leave you alone, but don't treat it like that, like it isn't real."

"What would you have me say then, I wonder?"

I sighed, "Fine, I really am sorry, but I'll leave you alone feel free to call Matty if you need anything." He didn't say anything else, and I turn and walked out of the room. I didn't feel much better but at least I'd tried. I don't suppose there was much more that I could have done, and I'd have more people to apologize to if I didn't get downstairs soon.

The gardens looked wonderful when I arrived, the work the others had put into them had really paid off. The group staying in the house, minus the wedding party, was gathered at the arrival point to greet the guest as they arrived by portkey from the Burrow. Overall it was going to be a small wedding, just family and members of the order so they were arriving in several small groups. The Weasley boys were occupied with the ushering duties leaving Harry, Hermione, and I in charge of the guest book, we spoke little maintaining pleasant conversation about the decorations when we did feel the need to talk. I think we were all relieved when it was time to take our seats for the ceremony.

The ceremony itself was over almost before I realized what was happening, mostly because I was too busy dreaming, rather pathetically given that I'm single, about the day when it would be my turn to get married, to pay any attention. Not that the part of the wedding that I saw wasn't lovely, it was and of course I wasn't in the least bit jealous, right well maybe just a little, but I was still really happy for Bill and Fleur. After they were pronounce man and wife the pair led the assembled party to the reception area. As we sat down to enjoy a meal, which my house elves had clearly outdone themselves on I got to talk to my date for the first time that night.

"I can't believe my big brother had finally gotten himself hitched."

"HA! Of course you can; beside you seem to be enjoying this event as much as any of the girls."

George shushed me; leaning closer to whisper conspiratorially, "Don't tell anyone I'm trying to keep that on the DL." I could only shake my head before he continued. "But I don't want to talk about me, fascinating as I am, you looked thoroughly miserable when you joined us earlier this evening."

"I don't have any idea what you're referring to."

"Sure you don't; spit it out already."

"Fine if you must know I got in a little debate before I came downstairs."

"Ah, this debate was with _yourself_, I presume?" His eyes twinkled mischievously and I had to fight to keep from giggling. "Now tell me what has you so frazzled, my dear."

"I pointed out to _myself_ that my boyfriend is rather inattentive. I realized that I've been trapped I my room sick for a week and he hasn't come to check on me once."

Glancing around to make sure no one was listening, he leaned even close, his voice taking on a serious tone, "We both know you haven't been sick at all; you're just lazy. So I can't imagine that's really what's bothering you."

"No it isn't," I sighed, "Truthfully the fact that you haven't stopped by doesn't bother me in the least you have your own life to live. I think, rather I know, that I overreacted to those comments and said some things that I didn't mean."

"Should we sneak out of here so we can fix that?"

"Thanks for the offer but no, I don't think that will help. Not to mention I seem to recall you promising to dance every song with me and they're firing up the enchanted orchestra."

George spent the rest making sure my mind was too occupied for me to be upset. Overall the reception seemed to be a great success; I'd never seen a couple more in love that the bride and groom and true to George's prediction everyone else I knew was paired off. I couldn't help watching out of the corner of my eyes as Ron and Hermione danced together, blushing whenever they meet each others eye. Or Harry and Ginny who were alternating between arguing and becoming completely absorbed in one another until the outside world faded away. I imagine from the snippets of conversation I managed to over hear, that Ginny was trying to convince Harry that their break up had been a bad idea.

It was after midnight when we finally said goodbye to the last guest and returned to our rooms. Until I pushed open my bedroom door I held out hope that Draco would be waiting to tell me he'd accept my apology; the disappointment when I found the room empty was crushing. Resigning myself to having destroyed the tenuous friendship we'd been building the last week I began changing for bed, only to have the door thrown open by a scowling Harry. Figuring there was little point in modesty given my state of undress I continued changing, speaking to him without turning around. "What do you want, Harry? I'm tired and I would like to get some sleep. I don't have the energy to fight."

"I didn't actually come here to fight," he sounded as exhausted as I felt. "Look Ron, Hermione and I are leaving tomorrow…"

I waved him off, "I know you're going to look for horcruxes."

He looked confused for a second, "Right, I keep forgetting how much you know. Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you two will be alright."

"I thought you said you didn't come here to fight," the irritation was apparent in my voice.

"You don't know him like I do. You don't understand what he's capable of. He'll turn on you the minute an opportunity presents itself."

"When I told you about this plan you agreed to give him a chance and you are most defiantly not doing that." I could feel the tears forming behind my eyes.

"I've been in here everyday, he's the same old Malfoy!" He was almost shouting know and I wasn't far behind.

"He only acts like that when you're around! Maybe he's not the problem!" I fought to keep the tears from sliding down my cheeks. "Just go, I'll be fine. I've been looking after myself for years; I don't need you to protect me!"

"That's what friends do they protect each other!"

"Hoping your little girlfriend will see it that way are you, Potter?" Both our heads snapped around to find Draco standing in the bathroom door way. My mouth dropped open and horror began to rise in my chest, sweet Merlin how much had he heard? I could feel the tension in the room rising and in a vain hope to avoid disaster a called out almost too quietly to be heard.

"Draco, please don't…" the voice didn't seem right, that whimper couldn't be me could it?

Rage flashed across Harry's face, "Don't you talk about her!"

He lunged toward Draco and I threw myself between the pair of them, pleading with them to stop, "Please, for the love of Merlin, don't do this!" Harry didn't stop, he tried to push me out of the way to get at Draco; I threw up a hand and shouted a banishing charm. Harry landed on my bed breathing heavily and looking disoriented. I forced myself to calm down before I spoke, "Harry, I know I promised you that I would keep you informed and I don't want to break that promise; I know as well as you do that you need to know what's going on but so help me if you continue to endanger the future that I'm working for I swear I will obliviate you."

"You would side with him!"

"I'm not choosing a side! I'm choosing a future! I can't help it if you are the one standing in the way of it at the moment."

"No! No, I refuse to believe that he is essential to the future that you are trying to achieve!"

I could feel Draco's eyes boring into the back of my head; and I could feel myself begin to tremble consumed by fear for the future. "I understand why you don't trust him; I really do, I wouldn't trust him if I were you. But Harry, have I ever given you any reason not to trust me?."

He jumped off the bed heading for the door, he paused just before he crossed the threshold calling back over his shoulder, "You have until McGonagall returns, if I still don't believe you after that, you're on your own."

He didn't wait for a response before stepping out and closing the door behind him. My strength gave out as the door closed, and I sank to the floor my tears finally escaping. Draco remained impassive, eerily still and silent behind me, waiting it seemed for me to regain my composure. As I rose to my feet sometime later he spoke, "Why did you do that?"

I brushed the tears from my cheeks as I answered, "Do what?"

"No one chooses Potter over me; even my father was more concerned about him than me."

"There's a first time for everything I guess."

"And if you lose him over this?"

"I won't," I turned to face him only to be confronted by a look of skepticism. "I have faith that everything will work out as it is supposed too."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then heaven help us all."

"I've decided to accept you apology if you're still offering it." I nodded vigorously and he gave with a curt nod in return before stepping around me and returning to his room.


End file.
